Prehistoric Human Brain Found Pickled in Bog

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A human skull dated to about 2,684 years ago with an
"exceptionally preserved" human brain still inside of it was
recently discovered in a waterlogged U.K. pit, according to a new
Journal of Archaeological Science study.

The brain is the oldest known intact human brain from Europe and
Asia, according to the authors, who also believe it's one of the
best-preserved ancient brains in the world.

"The early Iron Age skull belonged to a man, probably in his
thirties," lead author Sonia O'Connor told Discovery News. "Cause
of death is rarely possible to determine in archaeological
remains, but in this case, damage to the neck vertebrae is
consistent with a hanging."

"The head was then carefully severed from the neck using a small
blade, such as a knife," added O'Connor, a post-doctoral research
associate at the University of Bradford. "This was used to cut
through the throat and between the vertebrae and has left a
cluster of fine cut marks on the bone."

The brain-containing skull was found at Heslington, Yorkshire, in
the United Kingdom. O'Connor and her team suspect the site served
a ceremonial function that persisted from the Bronze Age through
the early Roman period. Many pits at the site were marked with
single stakes. The remains of the man were without a body, but
the scientists also found the headless body of a red deer that
had been deposited into a channel.

Laser imaging, chemical analysis and other examinations revealed
that the brain naturally preserved over the millennia. The
scientists found no evidence for bacterial or fungal activity,
and described the tissue as being "odorless…with a resilient,
tofu-like texture."

"In the air, even in the chill of a hospital mortuary, brain
tissue very quickly decays to liquid before muscle and other soft
tissues show much evidence of decay," O'Connor said.

She and her colleagues suggest that a fortuitous series of events
-- for the brain and science, not the victim -- led to the
organ's preservation. Shortly after the man was killed, his head
must have been placed, or fallen into, the waterlogged pit that
was free of oxygen. While other soft human body parts may not
preserve well under such conditions, the wet environment appears
to be perfect for keeping brains "fresh," "due to the very
different chemistry of brain tissue," O'Connor said.

The researchers don't think the violent way the man was killed
aided his brain's preservation. While severing his head separated
it from the rest of his body, including the bacteria-filled gut,
the decapitation "would also have produced a gaping wound that
would have been open to immediate infection from micro-organisms
involved in putrefaction." The quick burial in conditions not
suited for microbial activity likely prevented that from
happening.

In addition to describing this unusually well preserved brain,
the journal paper provides the first in-depth study of other
prehistoric human brains and soft human tissues discovered by
scientists. They include the body of the 5,000-year-old Tyrolean
"Ice Man," the Inca mummies of the high Andes, the tanned bog
bodies from across Northern and Western Europe, good condition
bodies sealed in lead coffins -- such as the St. Bees man, and
crypt burials at places like Spitalfields Church, London, where
bodies with surviving brain tissue were found.

Glen Doran, chair of the anthropology department at Florida State
University, told Discovery News that two aspects of the new study
immediately struck him as "notable."

"First," he said, "such preservation is testimony to the amazing
preservation in wet sites. Truly amazing things come out of the
muck."

"The second, he added, "is the absolutely stellar analysis
brought to bear on this special find."

Based on this discovery and other known prehistoric, intact human
brains, he agrees that rapid burial in an aqueous environment, as
well as near-continual submersion, are essential to human brain
tissue preservation.

"The cranium is well designed to protect the brain in life and
can, under the right circumstances, remain on duty long after the
normal expectation of service," he said.